Betty Ann Beaman

Betty Ann Beaman, 44, formerly from the Truro area, was sentenced this week to two years in prison and ordered to repay $301,774.44 to the Colchester East Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
She admitted to stealing that amount from the association over three years, between April of 2003 and July 2006 while working as a bookkeeper for the association.
Court heard that Beaman has lived a life of great difficulty that once involved an abusive marriage, other family problems and that she became addicted to prescription pain killers following a motorcycle accident.
“This is a person who has been addicted to pain medication for many years,” said Legal Aid defence attorney, Dave Mahoney. “As a consequence of these injuries she has had extensive medical therapy.”
In accepting a joint sentencing recommendation, however, the judge agreed with Crown Prosecutor Rick Hartlen’s assessment that greed was the primary motivation behind Beaman’s abuse of a charitable organization that serves “some of the most vulunerable in our community...
“And to take advantage of that organization is not right,” Judge John MacDougall said. “It is unfortunate Ms. Beaman has had a difficult life but the reality is that type of experience does not give individuals the right to take from others.”
After she was caught, Beaman initially accused the organization’s executive director, Joyce MacDonald, of coercing her into stealing the money and of being a partner in the crime. She later recanted that accusation against McDonald, who volunteered to take – and passed – a polygraph test.
“All those investigations cleared Ms. McDonald definitively,” Hartlen said.
Beaman also initially tried to say she had a gambling addiction because someone had suggested that excuse might buy her some pity from the court.
MacDougall called the joint recommendation a “reasonable one” and said the jail time will “pose a particular hardship” for Beaman.
“For every action we take, there has to be accountability,” he said. “There has to be deterrence and in my opinion, this ought to do it.”
Beaman wrote cheques to herself in amounts ranging from a couple of hundred dollars to $2,000, which she processed through three separate bank accounts.
She had been hired to work 10 hours per week at a rate of approximately $13 per hour. Based on the total amount stolen, however, she paid herself at a rate that worked out to $357.12 for every day worked.
The loss of the money put the organization in a dire financial situation and caused it to cash in investment certificates to make ends meet. The CMHA had to postpone plans to purchase its own building and now also spends more money on its accounting process to prevent against future fraud.